Amazon Carbon Emissions Jump 16% in 2025 as Data Center Capex Hits $132B
- Amazon's total carbon emissions reached 80.85 million metric tons CO2e in 2025, a 16% increase and the largest single-year jump since the company began tracking [1]
- Capital expenditure on property, plant, and equipment surged 59% year-over-year to $131.8 billion, up from $83 billion in 2024 [5]
- Electricity-related emissions rose 34% year-over-year, with supply chain emissions up 20% and now accounting for 76% of Amazon's total footprint [1]
- Amazon added more data center capacity globally than any other company in 2025, including over 1.2GW in Q4 alone, while maintaining a fleet-wide PUE of 1.14 [1][2]
- The company matched 100% of electricity consumption with renewable energy for the third consecutive year across a 42GW portfolio of 712+ projects in 30 countries [2]
Amazon disclosed in its 2025 sustainability report that total carbon emissions rose 16% year-over-year to 80.85 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent — the largest single-year increase since the company began tracking its footprint. The growth was driven overwhelmingly by record data center capacity additions to support AWS and the broader AI buildout [1].
The emissions spike came alongside an extraordinary ramp in capital spending. Amazon's investments in property, plant, and equipment totaled $131.8 billion in fiscal 2025, a 59% increase from the $83 billion spent in 2024 and more than double the $52.7 billion deployed in 2023 [5]. The bulk of this capex flows to AWS infrastructure — servers, networking equipment, and the physical data center shells that house them.
Electricity-related emissions grew 34% year-over-year, the company reported, attributing the increase predominantly to data center growth. Supply chain emissions — covering hardware manufacturing and construction on fossil-fuel-heavy grids, particularly in Asia-Pacific — rose 20% and now represent 76% of Amazon's total carbon footprint [1]. Amazon acknowledged that continued demand growth "may slow" its progress toward Climate Pledge goals, though it maintained its 2040 net-zero target [1].
The Numbers
Amazon added more data center capacity in 2025 than any other company globally, including more than 1.2GW in Q4 alone [1]. The fleet-wide average power usage effectiveness (PUE) stood at 1.14, better than the industry average of 1.25 but trailing Google's reported 1.09 [1].
Carbon intensity — emissions relative to revenue — rose 3% year-over-year, meaning emissions growth outpaced the company's top-line expansion. This reverses a longer-term trend: Amazon has previously pointed to a 38% decrease in carbon intensity since 2019, during which revenue grew 156% [2].
Water usage reached 2.5 billion gallons across the data center fleet, though the company reported a 20% improvement in water usage effectiveness to 0.12 liters per kWh. Amazon said it is now 75% of the way toward its 2030 water-positive goal, up from 53% in 2024, with 26 data centers using reclaimed water [2].
Capex Trajectory
The $131.8 billion in property, plant, and equipment investment in 2025 is staggering in context. It represents a 150% increase over 2023 levels and compressed Amazon's free cash flow from $32.9 billion in 2024 to just $7.7 billion in 2025, even as operating cash flow grew 20% to $139.5 billion [5].
Amazon has not broken out what share of total capex goes specifically to AWS data centers, but the company has previously indicated that the majority of its infrastructure spend supports cloud and AI workloads. CEO Andy Jassy told investors in early 2025 that the company planned to spend approximately $100 billion on capex for the year — a figure it ultimately overshot by more than 30% [5].
Renewable Energy Portfolio
Despite the absolute emissions increase, Amazon reported matching 100% of its global electricity consumption with renewable energy for the third consecutive year. The company's carbon-free energy portfolio now spans 712 projects across 30 countries with 42GW of total capacity — enough to power roughly 13 million U.S. homes [2].
The distinction between 'matching' and direct consumption of renewables is important. Amazon purchases renewable energy certificates (RECs) and enters into power purchase agreements (PPAs) to offset grid electricity consumed by its facilities. In regions where grids remain heavily reliant on fossil fuels — particularly parts of Asia-Pacific where Amazon is building aggressively — the actual electrons powering data centers may still come from coal or natural gas.
Industry Context
Amazon is not alone in facing this tension. Google reported in 2024 that its emissions had risen 48% since 2019, driven by AI-related data center expansion. Microsoft disclosed a 29% increase in emissions since 2020 for similar reasons. All three hyperscalers have maintained long-term net-zero commitments while acknowledging that the pace of AI infrastructure buildout is creating near-term headwinds [3].
The 62% of Amazon's top suppliers that now have decarbonization plans, up 23% year-over-year, suggests the company is pushing harder on Scope 3 emissions from its hardware and construction supply chain — the category that now dominates its footprint at 76% of total emissions [2].
Market Position
Amazon shares traded at $242.67 on July 3, up 5.1% year-to-date but down from a 52-week high of $278.56. The company carries a market capitalization of $2.61 trillion [4]. The sustainability report disclosure has not materially moved the stock, with shares up 0.4% on the day [4].
The report underscores a fundamental trade-off facing hyperscalers: the AI infrastructure buildout that is driving revenue growth and competitive positioning is simultaneously pushing emissions higher in absolute terms. Amazon's willingness to publicly acknowledge that demand 'may slow' its climate progress marks a notable shift in tone from prior reports [1].
Further sources
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